Posted on 03/01/2011 2:26:58 PM PST by Nachum
Imagine paying as much for water as you do for your mortgage.
Residents throughout Atlanta are outraged by hundreds, even thousands of dollars in monthly spikes in their water bills, and have questioned the legitimacy of the charges for years. Now, they're demanding answers.
"I thought we were sinking in a hole of water," said Debbi Scarborough. "It scared me to death. I thought we had a major leak when I got the bill."
Over two months last summer, her family's monthly water bill, shot up to $1,805 In July and then $1,084 in August, leaving a balance due of more than $3,000. She said in the past her bill has averaged $200 to $250.
"I'm not paying a $3,000 bill. And for those three months, we were pretty much out of town most of the time and there's no leaks," she said, showing CNN a copy of her plumber's report.
The city installed a device on her meter to track daily usage. In the meantime, Scarborough's bill remains unpaid while she disputes the charges.
She is not alone.
While similar complaints about huge water bill spikes have popped up in Cleveland, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Brockton, Massachusetts; it appears that the issue has lasted the longest in Atlanta.
(Excerpt) Read more at yourjewishnews.com ...
I love my well.
The “Water” problem in Atlanta has been going on for almost a decade-—
I pay about $50/month — I can’t imagine $200-$250- that’s crazy—
$3,000 would land me in the hospital or jail...
bump
Just got mine today- $67.00, and that was with a pipe breaking twice during the big freeze last month.
Years ago, I got a bill for several hundred dollars. I did the math, and figured out that for us to have used that much water, every faucet in the place would have had to be wide open for the entire month. After a re-read, things were a bit more reasonable :)
ML/NJ
Just paid mine, less than $20.....for just two living in the house.
If the costs in Atlanta were truly justified, then the cost of water desalinization would be a bargain. Why hasn’t that occurred to anyone?
Buy some property on the coast. Put in a desalinization plant, and clear a path for a water pipe to pump the water up to Atlanta.
The pipe could run underground and not bother much of anyone if it were routed properly.
If a nuclear plant were a part of the deal, power could be sold to help offset the cost of the water desalinization.
Of course you’d have to get the government off the project’s back, so the costs wouldn’t go up by a thousand times in the process.
I can’t count the times I’ve come home to find a water house that had busted spewing water for God knows how long. Re-filling my hot tub twice a month and 2 people showering twice a day. My bill WILL NOT go over $20. Yes, the meter works fine.
Glad I don’t live in Atlanta!
Loosely related to this was my experience the other night making a purchase through Achmed who was a cashier at an office supply store. He asked for a birthdate to enroll me in the store promotion du jour. I told him the month by its name rather than its number and he guessed the number wildly wrong. I guess Achmed knew little about the Julian calendar!
I have a well and my main cost is the sewer bill, $100 or so every couple of months, and the salt to keep the water softener fed.
I don’t even like flying through Atlanta. The extreme north end of Atlanta like the SC and TN border is okay.
Water boards are little fiefdoms usually answering to no one but themselves.
Just last year, the city issued credits totaling $466,368 to customers.
Many of the problems arose after the installation of new, automated water meters, which began nearly five years ago, and involved contracts for meter installations, the electronic meters and software equipment.
The automated meter-reading technology eliminates the need for city workers to manually check every meter. Instead, they retrieve the data by driving by each property. The meter electronically transmits data showing the amount of water used.
From the beginning, there were problems.
In 2007, city auditors found they were “unable to verify electronic meter readings” because of “meter read errors, equipment failures or human errors.”
Specifically, the audit said “about 9% of the meters could not be read due to broken or malfunctioning equipment.”
Two years later, another audit concluded that a “high number of accounts” were not getting “actual meter readings” because of “meter read errors, equipment failures or human errors.”
About 1% of the meters’ registers, which show how much water is being used, and the meter base underneath do not properly fit. That mismatch could result in a doubling of the water bill, Aman said.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/01/water.bills.war/index.html
Wilda Cobb, who is astounded at a water bill that now totals $10,071.
Her bill spiked to more than $1,200 in November, then skyrocketed to $6,879 in December.
******
Someone would be EATING THAT BILL if it came to my house!
Her latest bill is down to just $34.
Ironically, Cobb knows something about water issues. She’s an attorney for the Environmental Protection Agency.
“As I person, I know something’s wrong here,” Cobb said. “As an attorney, what can I do about it? But, I don’t think it takes a law degree to say $7,000 for a month’s use of water by one person in a small home is just crazy without a leak.”
That sounds far too logical, reasonable etc etc. Can’t have that...
No you cant have Tennessee River water...
But nice try...
now take your straws and go home...
My water is just over $20
Sorry. ;^)
Well just don’t have another lucid moment like that ... it might actually make someone ‘think’ :O
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